The Sinful Young Master

Chapter 367: I will kill you!

Jolthar’s expression hadn’t changed, but something had awakened behind his eyes. An intensity that had been carefully controlled was now leaking through.

"I said," Jolthar repeated, his voice still quiet but carrying a force that made several people flinch, "be careful."

His aura exploded outward, like a raging tempest. It was visible to everyone present, the faint smoke-like rising out of him.

He had been patient enough through all this facade, but he could no longer take it. Jolthar was many things, but he was not a man of patience, not when someone was taunting him repeatedly.

The chamber shook.

Not metaphorically, the actual stone and marble trembled. Dust fell from the ceiling. Benches rattled. Windows cracked with sharp reports. Throughout the building, throughout the entire district, throughout the vast city of Cahns’ar, people felt it.

A massive presence had just announced itself.

"Oh boy," Akopa said as he watched Jolthar with amusement, and Prince squinted his gaze on the boy.

In various estates and compounds across the city, every powerhouse, every individual who had cultivated their abilities to extraordinary levels, felt the wave of pressure and turned their attention toward the imperial court.

Someone had just released power on a scale that couldn’t be ignored.

In the courtroom, weaker individuals had actually fallen to their knees. Magistrates gripped their desks to stay upright. Hernais had stumbled backward, his face pale. Even Richardus had taken a step back, his confident facade shattered.

Only a few remained standing without visible strain.

Milan, though clearly feeling the pressure, stayed on his feet through pure willpower. Cleora and Raayani both remained seated, but their expressions showed they felt the full force of what Jolthar had just unleashed.

Jolthar stood at the center of it all, completely calm, as if the tremendous pressure radiating from him was nothing more than breathing.

"I have been patient," he said, his voice carrying to every corner of the silent chamber.

"I have answered your questions. I have tolerated your manipulation of facts and your deliberate twisting of truth. I have allowed this farce to continue because I believed in giving the system a chance to function properly."

He looked at Halvren, then at Richardus, then at Hernais.

"But I see now that you have no intention of seeking truth or justice. You want a conviction, regardless of facts. You want to destroy what we’ve built in Tekkora because it threatens your corrupt little arrangements."

Halvren tried to speak, but his voice came out weak.

"Jolthar Kaezhlar, you need to—"

"I’m done here," Jolthar interrupted.

The pressure intensified briefly, and several more people collapsed.

"I came in good faith. I answered your charges. I defended my actions. And you responded by cornering me with twisted logic and false accusations."

He turned to face the entire assembly.

"Hear me now, all of you. I am going to return to Tekkora. I am going to continue the work we started. And I am going to transform that barony into something greater and stronger than any city or province in this empire. A place where justice actually means something. Where the law protects people instead of being used as a weapon by the corrupt."

"And yes, it’s my barony, and I am its protector."

His aura pulsed again, and the building shook harder.

"If you want to prosecute me, come to Tekkora and try. But understand this, I will not be cornered by bureaucrats and thieves pretending to uphold justice while serving their own interests.

You had your chance to do this properly.

You chose manipulation instead."

Jolthar looked at Milan, then at Cleora and Raayani.

"We’re leaving."

He walked toward the exit, his aura still radiating enough force that people scrambled out of his path. The massive doors of the courtroom opened as he approached; whether by his power or by terrified guards, it wasn’t clear.

Milan followed immediately, recognizing that staying would accomplish nothing now. Though he wasn’t sure of what Jolthar had done would help them or, for that matter, what he’d done.

Cleora and Raayani rose and moved after them, both women maintaining their composure despite the chaos in the room.

"You can’t just leave!"

Richardus shouted, finding his voice again.

"This court is not dismissed! You are in contempt!"

Jolthar paused at the doorway and looked back.

"Contempt? Yes. I hold all of you in contempt.

You’ve earned it."

Then he was gone, striding through the corridor with the others following.

Behind them, the courtroom dissolved into chaos as officials argued and observers talked excitedly about what they had just witnessed.

Outside, in the bright morning sun, Jolthar finally allowed his aura to retract. The pressure vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving people gasping in relief throughout the district.

He took a deep breath, his hands clenched at his sides. That had been a risk—revealing his true power, defying the court openly. But he had seen through their game completely. They were never going to listen to his arguments. The verdict had been decided before the trial began. Richardus and Hernais had arranged everything, bought off Halvren, and rushed the proceedings specifically to prevent any real defense.

Staying and playing by their rigged rules would have accomplished nothing except giving them the conviction they wanted.

"That was..." Milan started, then stopped, unsure how to finish.

"Necessary," Jolthar said firmly. "

They weren’t interested in truth. This was theater designed to legitimize a predetermined outcome."

"You just defied an imperial court," Raayani pointed out.

"In front of hundreds of witnesses."

"I know."

Jolthar looked at her, then at Cleora.

"I’m sorry. This will make things harder for both of you."

Cleora took his hand.

"We chose to stand with you. We don’t regret that."

"What now?" Milan asked.

Jolthar looked back at the courthouse, at the city of Cahns’ar spreading out around them.

"Now we go home."

"They’ll send people after you," Milan warned.

"Imperial marshals, maybe worse."

"Let them come," Jolthar replied calmly.

"Tekkora isn’t helpless. And I’m done playing games with corrupt officials who serve themselves instead of the people."